can i put in a plug for Derek at x1243 at Sweetwater?  He is great, worked with him for years.

I'd use Sweetwater but I think it would end up costing me more up here in Canada so I stick with a retailer up here who delivers. 

For online stuff though these are probably your safest/easiest solutions.

Amazon
NewEgg
Sweetwater
Musicians Friend

Cheers.

Would anyone offer a local store an opportunity to mach best price? or is there any value in that? I kinda like supporting my local store, but I'm not sure it matters much anymore. Sweetwater might be a better company than my local retailer.

I found that a lot of the time the guys I used were only slightly more expensive than the big online places if there was any price difference at all. Just give your local places a call and see what's up. It's also sometimes easier to return if something goes wrong.

I always give my local retailer the opportunity to match price, and most of the time they can. 

If you don't throw some business their way once in a while, they might not be there the next time you need a mic cable or guitar strings for a gig that night. Between the giant chains and online retailers, the traditional mom 'n pop music store has become an endangered species. 
 
But if I ever do want to buy hardware online, Sweetwater is where I go. As with any retailer, their recommendations are often based on margins, sales incentives and manufacturer promotions. However, their liberal return policy removes the risk of buying something you haven't actually held in your hands first. 

Oh and I'd contact the manufacturer to see if they have done any testing with Sonar and scour the internet for any conflicts with Sonar and any other hardware/software you'll be using it with. Cheers.

bitflipper


I always give my local retailer the opportunity to match price, and most of the time they can. 

If you don't throw some business their way once in a while, they might not be there the next time you need a mic cable or guitar strings for a gig that night. Between the giant chains and online retailers, the traditional mom 'n pop music store has become an endangered species. 

But if I ever do want to buy hardware online, Sweetwater is where I go. As with any retailer, their recommendations are often based on margins, sales incentives and manufacturer promotions. However, their liberal return policy removes the risk of buying something you haven't actually held in your hands first. 

That's the drawback of big corporations. The mom  'n pop stores are going to die out. They can't compete with the lower prices of the big corporations. Sad but true. How many mom 'n pop drug stores do you know of anymore?

I'm with Bit.  Driving to a brick and mortor building ain't as easy as point and click but you'll help them stay open.

Probably the most important thing is being able to return the interface if it doesn't work.  Yes, not probable but possible, and there is nothing worse than getting all pumped up to play w/ a new toy and having it turn into a three week tech do-it-yourself support.

@

All good suggestions, especially Bit's- but I always save a lot of money buying on eBay! I got two Focusrite Sapphire Pro40's for under $600 for both, shipped! Superb sounding interface- chaining two of them with firewire gives you 16 channels of analog I/O, which can handle most sessions. 

There's a lot to be said for eBay for used musical stuff! Also, you can sell the stuff you don't need- eBay is awesome!

You wont go wrong with any RME equipment. Fireface800 is also great. The nice thing about the UFX it has effects you can apply as you record built in. Plus the Total Mix routing software is the best out there.